Teen shot by Will County deputy dies

An autopsy was scheduled today on a 17-year-old youth shot Dec. 20 in unincorporated Crest Hill by a Will County sheriff's deputy.

The youth, identified by the Will County coroner's office as Jose Sanchez, was pronounced dead at 3:29 p.m. Friday at Provena St. Joseph Medical Center in Joliet.

Sanchez, previously identified by Will County sheriff's police as Jose Chavez, was shot in the chest around 7:30 p.m. Dec. 20 at a home on the 2300 block of Gaylord Road after allegedly slashing the deputy in the face with a kitchen knife.

The deputy, a two-year veteran, was responding with another deputy to a 7:26 p.m. call from family members complaining the teen was acting erratically and threatening them at the home.

Sheriff's police spokesman Kathy Hoffmeyer said a family member allowed deputies into the home, where they found Sanchez in a hallway holding "a butcher knife." He refused repeated commands to drop the knife and then lunged at the deputy, slicing her face, Hoffmeyer said.

Sanchez ran from the home after being shot and was apprehended outside by two Crest Hill police officers, Hoffmeyer said.

The deputy underwent a two-hour surgery to repair her wound and is expected to have a full and complete recovery, Hoffmeyer said.

Will County Sheriff's Deputy Chief Ken Kaupas said in a release that investigators suspect Sanchez was under the influence of drugs.